Democrats ready for crowded caucuses

By Seattle Times staff

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Democratic Party officials are predicting packed houses across the state at Saturday's presidential caucuses but are optimistic that all voters will have a chance to be heard and their candidate preference recorded.

"I would say most places are going to be comfortable," said state party Chairman Paul Berendt.

Comfortable but crowded.

Berendt said a check yesterday showed 69,080 hits since early January on the party's caucus-finder Web site. He said 20,000 of those came in the past three days.

Most caucuses for the state's 6,552 precincts will be held in schools or community buildings, with no more than 30 in private homes, Berendt said. Some locations could be the site for up to 30 precincts, and those are the spots that could become crowded if each precinct draws as many as 100 Democrats.

As it became clear a record turnout was possible, Berendt said he sent an e-mail Tuesday asking organizers, "Are you prepared to have 2,000 people in your legislative district?"

If not, Berendt told them there is time to make accommodations for bigger crowds.

The state party also has sent word to prepare for a high turnout by making sure there are enough sign-in sheets and a plan should a crowd overflow its space.

"If there's a problem with capacity, we'll make it work," said Kirstin Brost, state party spokeswoman. "We'll go outside to sign people up and make sure everyone's vote is counted. We can caucus on the lawn if we have to."

Jeff Smith, a former party executive director who is coordinating the caucuses, is predicting maybe 125,000 caucusgoers, the most since 1984, when more than 100,000 attended, he said.
In Seattle, Richard Kelley, chairman of the 43rd Legislative District, is concerned whether 27 locations can contain the crowds for the 230 precincts in his district.

Buildings such as the Seattle Art Museum, Town Hall, Asian Art Museum, schools, libraries and churches have been booked, so there should be opportunities to move to larger rooms within those facilities if necessary.

Still, said Kelley, "There are real questions about whether they can handle everybody."

The district reserved the buildings two months ago, assuming 5,000 to 6,000 people would attend. Kelley wonders if up to 10,000 people might turn up.

Attendance is nearly impossible to predict, Kelley said, as there is no party registration in Washington state.

"We're running an organization (where) we literally don't know who our members are," he said.

Kelley, whose district stretches from Madison Park to Fremont and downtown to Ravenna, said he has been getting up to 48 calls a day in the past week and 24 e-mail messages from people wanting to know where their caucus is or how the process works.

Brost, the party spokeswoman, said the party is dedicated to making the caucuses run smoothly.

"We're committed to making the caucuses the best possible experience for everyone who participates," Brost said.

Staff reporters Beth Kaiman, Stuart Eskenazi and David Postman contributed to this report.

Beth Kaiman: 206-464-2441 or bkaiman@seattletimes.com

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